Sauce Gombo

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Gombo means okra in West Africa, and that vegetable is the primary
thickening agent of this simple sauce from Ghana. The sauce can be
served like a soup or poured over potatoes, plantains, or other starchy
tubers.

Ingredients

1 pound fresh okra, sliced into rounds
1 cup water
1 teaspoon hot chile powder, such as cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tomato, coarsely chopped

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat for for
8 to 10 minutes, or until the okra is tender. Serve it as is or puree it
in a blended for a smoother sauce.

Rougail (Réunionaise Salsa)

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Few people have ever heard of the Mascarenes, and these islands are more 
known by their individual names: Réunion, Mauritius, and Ródrigues. They 
are a departement of France and lie hundred of miles east of Madagascar, 
hundreds of miles away from each other, and although they vary greatly 
in geography, culture, and religion, they have one great thing in 
common: a love of chile peppers. On all three islands, chiles of every 
size and heat level are lovingly grown and added to a cuisines that can 
generically be called Creole. Rebecca Chastenet de Gry, one of my 
writers, collected this recipe for me on Réunion Island. She wrote: 
"Alter the heat in this extremely hot salsa by changing the chiles used. 
Traditionally the smaller piquin or bird's eye chiles are the types 
preferred, but milder ones, such as red serranos, can be used." Serve 
it--easy does it--over clams, other shellfish, or grilled fish fillets.

Ingredients

1/2 cup small fresh hot red chiles, such as piquin, stems and seeds removed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons sliced ginger
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons white vinegar

Instructions

Place the chiles, salt, garlic, and cilantro in a blender and process 
slightly and still chunky.
Combine the remaining ingredients, and the chile and mix well. Allow the 
salsa to sit for a couple of hours to blend the flavors.

Piment Limón (Citrus Hot Sauce)

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Here is my version of the classic hot sauce of Rórigues Island in the 
Mascarenes. It is very thick, so feel free to thin with more water if 
you want. You’d think that this sauce might be sour, but it’s not–the 
sugar in the red chiles seems to temper the tart lemons. Any fresh red 
chiles can be used, and you can adjust the heat level to your liking. 
The yield is high here, but the color is so beautiful that you should 
put the excess in decorative bottles as gifts for your friends. It will 
keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. Serve it over fish or other 
seafood.

Ingredients

6 cups water
10 lemons, thickly sliced, seeds removed (or substitute limes for a 
different color)
8 to 10 red jalapeños, seeds and stems removed, halved
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Place the water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the lemon slices 
and boil for 20 minutes. Strain, reserving the water.
Place the jalapeños in a blender and add the oil. Puree to make a thick 
paste. Add the lemon slices, a few at a time, along with 3 cups of the 
reserved water, a half cup at a time. You may have to do this in batches 
in you don’t have a large blender. Puree to a thick sauce. Pour into 
bottles and label.

L’Exotic Sauce Dynamite

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Here is a typical Madagascar-style sauce that was served at the
Restaurant L’Exotic in Montreal. The sauce accompanied most of the
entrees at L’Exotic and it also can be added to soups or stews to spice
them up.

Ingredients

12 “bird’s eye” chiles (chiltepíns or piquins), crushed
3 tablespoons freshly ground ginger root
3 tablespoons freshly ground garlic
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients together in a pan. Bring to boil, then reduce
heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool, puree in a
blender, and place the sauce in a small jar. It keeps for up to a year
in the refrigerator.

Mazavaroo

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The neighboring island of Mauritius in the Mascarenes has a harissa-like 
sauce called mazavaroo that is usually served on sandwiches. This recipe 
for it was given to one of my writers, Leyla Loued-Khenissime, by 
Virjanan Jeenea, the sous-chef at the Oberoi Hotel in Mauritius. Leyla 
writes: “I was happy to see that his recipe is simple compared to others 
I have run into. I tried it four different ways: with fresh bird's eye 
peppers and again with fresh Thai dragon peppers, then adding shrimp 
paste to one and ginger to the other. The best result I obtained was by 
following the Oberoi recipe with the bird's eye peppers, although it 
still lacks that smoky fantasia found in the jar I initially bought. 
Below is the Oberoi's adapted version.”

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh red chillies (preferably pili-pili or bird's eye peppers)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon garlic, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, peeled

Instructions

Pre-heat pan and add oil. Add the garlic and chilli peppers. Sautee on 
moderate heat for 15 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. 
Remove from heat. Mix the garlic and peppers with salt and the lemon in 
a mixer.